The Mumbai police on 10 October said a 23-year-old youth is the mastermind behind the Mira Road call centre scam which the police bust last Tuesday.

The youth, Shahgar Thakkar, also known as Shaggy, and his aide Tapash are on the run.

According to a report in the Times of India, the police said, "Despite his youth, Thakkar has made a fortune, that too in a short span of time. At a very young age he has mastered the art of cheating foreigners by sitting in India." However according to media reports, Thakkar may have fled the country.

People close to Thakkar have said that he owns several high-end cars and is a multimillionaire. "Some of our seniors used to motivate us to get more business by making Thakkar an example, with his lavish lifestyle and flamboyance. He would often visit our call centre," said an accused.

"We have found a couple of WhatsApp groups on which the call centre employees were present and would get data on gullible US citizens," said a police officer.

Recent media reports suggests that multiple US agencies are in touch with the Thane police, exchanging details on the investigation, while the police are saying that the call centre bust is just the tip of the iceberg and the racket is spread across the country.

TOI quoted a police officer as saying, "Their counterparts in some other centres were trained as computer repairing, servicing or credit cards agents."

As many as 70 staffers have been arrested and 630 have been given notice.